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Israel, a nation of business startups, can help WMass entrepreneurs and vice versa

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Israeli Consul General for New England Yehuda Yaakov, center, speaks with the consulate's director of political affairs Samuel J. Crystal to his left and state Sen. Eric Lesser to his right.
(JIM KINNEY/ THE REPUBLICAN)

SPRINGFIELD - Yehuda Yaakov, the Israeli consul general to New England, met Wednesday with Springfield's tech entrepreneurs and the people trying to help them build businesses here.

And many of those boosters hope Israeli entrepreneurs eager to make Springfield their toeholds in the American market will follow him to the Pioneer Valley.

"We are trying to create a ecosystem where business can grow and these companies from Israel would be a great part of that," said Scott Foster, a business and entrepreneurial lawyer at Bulkley Richardson law firm and part of Valley Venture Mentors, an organization that helps entrepreneurs grow and develop businesses in the Pioneer Valley.

Yaakov met with representatives of Valley Venture Mentors, MassMutual and its Springfield Venture Fund for startups, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the TechFoundry IT training program and TechSpring which is Baystate Health's collaborative work space and technology accelerator located in downtown Springfield.

Yaakov also visited the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, met with the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and other Jewish leaders before touring the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield and meeting with local tourism boosters.

El Al Airlines started in June with nonstop flights from Tel Aviv to Boston's Logan International Airport. The flights make for even stronger bonds between Massachusetts and Israel.

There are more than 200 Israeli-owned companies doing business in Massachusetts already, accounting for $6 billion in economic activity for the state and 30,000 jobs, Yaakov said. Israel's business dealings in Massachusetts grow by about 3 percent a year.

Israel, known as "Start-Up Nation" after the 2011 book detailing its culture of business entrepreneurship, is a center for medical technology. That's technology especially as it relates to computers and data. Baystate would like to help bring to the states, said Joel L. Vengco, chief information officer and vice president of Baystate Health and the head of TechSpring.

Yaakov said the next step is to get Western Massachusetts businesses meeting with Israeli businesses. He described himself as a bit of a matchmaker.

"You can talk to you Israeli counterparts in a language you alone know," he said.

He expects Gov. Charlie Baker to lead a trade delegation to Israel in the first quarter of next year following recent trips by former Gov. Deval Patrick in 2011 and 2014. He advised Western Massachusetts business leaders to have representatives in that delegation.

It's not a trade junket, Yaakov said, but a way to build relationships and spur investment.

For example, MediSafe, an Israeli medical software startup whose app -- downloaded by 1.3 million people -- reminds users to take their medication, is opening an office in Boston. The 12-person company will soon start hiring business development staff in the U.S. after raising $6 million from local venture capital funds, according to a news release.

Yaakov also explained that Israel is number two in the world in cybersecurity behind California's Silicon Valley. The expertise in keeping computer networks safe is born from education in computer security Israeli high school students receive. It's training they need during their mandatory military service given the threats Israel faces.

"Cybersecurity, it's what the military needs and its what businesses and academic institutions need," he said. "By the time you finish the 12th grade you have already become a component of startup nation."